If you’re trying to scale your business, your first instinct may be to market your services far and wide and onboard whichever clients will pay you, or pay you the most.
But working with less-than-ideal clients can actually slow down your company’s growth and cost you money in the long run.
It’s better to target a small group of people who you really think you can help and would enjoy working with. Taking the time to find those ideal clients who will become loyal customers for years is better than trying to close lots of contracts quickly in an effort to scale.
Here’s how to find those loyal, ideal clients who will become the bedrock of your business.
4 Ways to Attract and Retain Ideal Clients
1. Figure out who your ideal clients are.
You probably have a good idea of who your target clients are. If you perform digital marketing services for photographers, then you know who you need to reach to drum up new business.
But it’s not enough to say that your ideal client is a photographer. If you want to attract clients who you’ll really love working with, then you’ll need to drill down your customer profile even further than that.
You should define deeper psychographic characteristics of your ideal client, like what their what their values and goals are. You should also aim to find clients who have similar communication and work styles because it makes for a better, easier working relationship.
Once you have an idea of who your ideal clients are, you’ll know what questions to ask on discovery calls to find out if each prospective client is someone you’d want to work with long-term.
2. Nurture existing relationships with good clients.
It’s easy to get so wrapped up in finding new business that you forget to nurture existing client relationships. If you have a great client who you want to hold onto, though, you should make building that relationship a priority.
With that being said, your client retention strategy doesn’t have to be complicated. Even simple things like calling your client regularly to check in or sending them a birthday card will strengthen the relationship and keep them coming back.
3. Ask your favorite clients for referrals.
In our experience, the best clients often come from referrals.
Asking your favorite clients if they know anyone who needs your services will often get you solid new leads. You can even create a referral program with a discount to encourage existing clients to send business your way.
They get a discount on their next project, and you get a great new client—it’s a win-win.
4. Stop working with problem clients.
It may seem counterintuitive to fire a client when you’re trying to grow your business. But problem clients who don’t communicate well and don’t pay on time are a drain on your energy and your business.
If you track the time you spend dealing with and stressing out about problem clients, you’ll likely realize that you’re losing money by working with them.
Every time you have to chase after an invoice or complete extra revisions to please a picky client, your effective hourly rate goes down.
If you can replace them with a better client who respects your time and loves your work, you’ll earn more money with less stress.
Those are our four best tips for attracting and retaining your ideal clients. If you follow them, you’re sure to have high-quality leads in no time.